Program 13 Book One (5 page)

I stared back at Tina and her eyes, full of fear and worry. She cared about what happened to me. She was trying to protect me. But Caretakers were not supposed to become emotionally attached to the Programs they looked after.

I wanted to say something, to let her know that I understood her words, but I couldn’t move, couldn’t speak. Tina nodded as a tear fell from her eye. “Can someone please fetch Hayden from Level One? I need to speak to him concerning Thirteen’s programming.”

The room fell quiet as the White Coats stared curiously at Tina. I couldn’t blame them. I, too, was quite curious. Level One caretakers did not go outside of their level in order to watch over Programs. There was no reason Hayden would have any new information to provide Tina with; everything he knew was already imported to my reading tablet.

“Now!” she demanded, turning to face the stunned White Coats.

Something inside me felt for her. Something I’d never quite experienced. I wanted to comfort her, to reach out and brush her cheek. I wanted to tell her things would be okay, except, it wasn’t me at all. It was a strange being screaming in my head for me to do something. But I couldn’t. There was
nothing
I could do.

“I’ll go speak to him, but I’m not sure I can successfully bring him into Level Three. The guards will surely forbid Hayden from entering outside of his zone.”
Sterling
’s voice was flat, cold. “I do not agree with your actions, Tina, nor do I understand your fascination with this Program. Just know that I’m only assisting you so that I can properly inform McVeigh of any and all issues that need to be resolved with Thirteen’s programming.”

“As you wish.” Tina sighed. “But I will see to it that this Program remains in commission.”

“And I will see to it that we follow all protocols.”
Sterling
forced a grin.

I lay in the Pod, ignoring the electricity buzzing throughout my body, focusing solely on the voice screaming inside of me.
Please, just let me go
, the voice pleaded. But I couldn’t.

The voice seemed familiar, as if I’d heard it numerous times before – as if it were a part of me somehow. And in a way it was. There was another identity within me. I had a life within me, and I couldn’t let it go. Not now.

I need to go home. Please!
I forced myself to ignore it, trying to focus on Tina and
Sterling
.
My mother is waiting on me. Please, just let me go. Please!

I could faintly register that it was the voice of a young girl. She sounded scared, lost. I wondered what she looked like before becoming a file on my hard drive. Was she pretty? What did she think of life on the outside? What happened to her? There was so much I wanted to know, so much that I’d never get the chance to know. As soon as McVeigh heard about this – about the other identity living inside of me – he’d make sure to get rid of her.

The door to the room swung open, forcing my attention back on the room. I looked around noticing that
Sterling
had managed to leave at some point.

“Hayden.” Tina smiled as she ran over to greet him. “I need your help.”

He nodded. “I had a feeling this would happen. Do you have her reading tablet available? I’ll need to look at her last update.”

“Do you think…? I mean, it can’t be, right?” Tina asked warily. “McVeigh isn’t going to let this continue, Hayden. You know as well as I do that once he hears about this…she’s a goner.”

“I know.” Hayden ran his hand through his blond locks. “Which is why we need to stay quiet. McVeigh never authorized her transformation. He doesn’t realize what she is, or what she’s capable of, and I’d rather keep it that way.”

“Of course.” Tina grabbed hold of Hayden’s hand, pulling him over towards the Pod. “Here’s her tablet,” she said, lifting it from the cart beside the Pod. “I’ve tried my best to keep this all from
Sterling
, but I don’t know how much longer I can. She’s not like the other Programs, is she?”

“No.” Hayden replied. “She’s only 83 percent computer. There’s still a person buried in there somewhere, and I’m going to save her.” He leaned forward, pressing his right hand against the glass. “We’re almost there, Emile. You’re almost home.”

His words meant nothing to me, but to the girl inside of me, they meant hope.

I know, please hurry
. The voice was calmer now, relaxed.

I leaned forward, reaching for his hand. “Hayden,” I whispered, my voice cracking.

His head whipped around just as
Sterling
came storming into the room. “What was that?” he called out from across the room. “Did that Program just speak? How is that even possible? She’s supposed to shut down during standby mode, not awaken!”

Hayden and Tina looked over at me, terror wide on their faces. “I don’t believe so,” Tina replied, trying to remain calm.

“Don’t you dare lie to me, Tina.”
Sterling
moved closer, shoving his finger into her chest. “That Program just whispered his name. Programs are not to form an emotional bond with their caretakers, nor are they programmed to break from standby mode. She shouldn’t have been able to speak.”

Hayden stepped forward, gripping the reading tablet in his left hand. “May I ask what it is that you are trying to say?”

“What I’m trying to say is that this Program needs to be deactivated immediately. Her core has been altered. She is now useless to this company! If the goal was to create another one of
them
, she’d be perfect, but we are supposed to be creating the perfect human – the perfect replacement – and she’s far from it!”

The room fell quiet. The girl inside of me began to panic, trying to push her way out. Everything she felt, I felt, too. It was as if I was becoming one with her, as if someone was giving me the gift of life. She kept pushing, but I didn’t move.

What are you doing?
the girl screamed.
The only way I can get out of here is if you force your way out. I can’t do it without you. Please, I don’t want to spend the rest of my life here.

Life? But she wasn’t alive. She was a voice imported onto my hard drive. There was no body to the voice. No family.
Nothing
. She was nothing but a voice – albeit a voice full of hope, courage, and most of all, strength. She was everything that Charles McVeigh wanted us to be. She was everything I was created to be, and yet she wasn’t even alive.

“
Sterling
,” Tina cried out. “If you even so much as dare to try to deactivate this Program, I will see to it that you never work for Vesta Corp again. Do you understand?”

“She’s of no use to this company and you know that! It is mandatory that we report our findings to McVeigh.” He shook his head, forcing a laugh. “What is it that’s so special about this one that you’re willing to risk everything?”

“You wouldn’t understand.” Hayden placed my reading tablet on the cart beside the Pod, turning to face
Sterling
. “She’s not like the others.”

“Why can’t you see that,
Sterling
? Why can’t you-?”

Before Tina could say anything else,
Sterling
stormed out of the room, slamming the door shut behind him.

It was final then. As soon as
Sterling
found Charles McVeigh, he’d call for the White Coats to locate me and prepare me for deactivation.

The thought of never seeing the outside world didn’t quite bother me as much as the fact that the voice inside my head would lose her life. Again. I wanted to save her, to give her a chance to regain the life that she had lost. I once believed I was alive, but I was beginning to see that was never the case. The only life I had was the one trying to escape from inside of me, and I was on the verge of losing her.

6
HOME

H
ayden and Tina stared back at me unsure what to do. I was becoming a liability for everyone it seemed.
Now is your chance to go
. The voice started up again, low but forceful. I wanted to ignore it, but it was impossible. I should not be here. I could not be here.

I pulled forward, jerking the wires that covered the Pod. I watched as one by one they began to fall, freeing me of their hold. I could feel their eyes locked on me, the fear brewing in their minds. But I couldn’t make myself stop. Something inside of me was telling me to keep going. I slammed my wrists through the Pod window, shattering the glass. Carefully, I slid my hand through the open hole, yanking open the latch on the Pod door.

“Thirteen, what on Earth do you think you are doing?” Tina demanded. She planted her hands on my shoulders, trying to ease me back inside of the Pod.

I wasn’t sure what I was doing, or why. All I knew was that she wanted this. She needed me to do this. She wanted to live her life. I couldn’t take that away from her. Not when it was what I wanted, too.

Hayden moved between us, carefully lifting Tina’s hands off my shoulders. “Tina, please.” He stood with his back to me. “I have a plan.”

“Try me.” Her gaze never strayed from me.

“I can get her out of here,” he whispered. “But I need you to distract the others.”

It sounded easy, but I knew better. Nothing at Vesta Corp was ever easy. The security within the building was tight, cameras in place where guards were not. There was no way that Hayden would be able to sneak me out. And even if, by some miracle, he did, what would happen to him? Or Tina? Their jobs, perhaps even their lives, would be in jeopardy.

Were they truly willing to risk so much?

When a Program was ordered to be deactivated, its caretaker surrendered the Program immediately. Protecting a Program from deactivation was considered to be a crime within Vesta Corp. Even I knew that.

We were created as a new race. McVeigh intended to form a new society, one in which humans were overridden by Programs, a society in which he would maintain full control. Caretakers were to avoid forming bonds with their Programs for that exact reason. Eventually, we would replace them.

And yet, Hayden and Tina were willing to risk it all to ensure my safety. He would make sure that  we were safe, he always did. I could sense the admiration in the girl’s voice, the love pouring out with each sound. It was as if there was a connection between the two of them. It was as if they’d known each other while she was alive.

“Hayden.” Tina pursed her lips. “Can you promise me that you’ll get her out of here safely?” He nodded. “Well then, count me in.”

“Thank you.” He spun around and smile at me. “I won’t let anything happen to her.”

“She’s rather special, isn’t she?” Tina chuckled.

“More than you can possibly know.”

“These were supposed to be spread out, but I don’t really have any other options right now.” Hayden ran his hand through his hair frantically. “I’m going to need to install the remaining three hard drives into your core immediately. Since the evaluation rooms will be the first areas they’ll check, we’re going to need to get out of here first.”

He extended his hand out to me. “I have an evaluation area set up at home. If we can make it there, I’ll be able to install the remaining hard drives. And then you’ll be free to live your life again, Emile.”

I could hear footsteps hurrying down the hall, the sound of squeaking boots filling the air. Hayden pulled me closer towards him and lifted a tile beside the Pod. “Quick.” He slid the tile off to the side and lowered me into the opening. It was small and dark, but it was a way out. A start to a new life.

I waited below as Hayden stayed behind to speak
with Tina. “Can you seal the entrance behind us?” he asked her. I could hear the footsteps moving in closer, the sounds of frustrated humans screaming down the hallway. “Please, Tina.”

“Go. I’ll handle things here. Just get out before they find the two of you!”

He jumped through the entrance behind me, smiling as he grabbed hold of my wrist. “We have to move.” His breathing began to accelerate, his grip on my wrist tightening. “About twenty feet in front of us, there is an exit onto a nearby street.”

My Program registered panic, fear of being forced into the human world. “I can’t.”

“We’re almost there. We need to keep moving, Emile.”

Emile. He insisted on calling me Emile. My human identity was hardly used, but when it was I couldn’t help but feel as though I was alive. Even if I wasn’t. But it wasn’t for me. It was for her – the voice inside my head.
Yes, Hayden?
she replied. She was Emile, not me.

“Look.” He tugged my wrist as he nodded up ahead excitedly. “Do you see it?”

There was a light shining through the doorway. We were almost there, just a few more feet until freedom. He pulled me through the door, nearly collapsing to the ground in the process, and slammed it shut behind us. We were on a sidewalk flooded with people, allowing us to blend in easier.

As we made our way through the crowd, Hayden released his grip on my wrist. He glanced around as he struggled out of his coat. He tossed the White Coat in a nearby garbage bin, and extended his hand to me, entwining his fingers with mine.